Mornings in the loggia
Coffee, columns and a lake that changes colour every hour.
Varenna wakes up late and quietly. The first ferry is still a rumour across the water when the loggia fills with light, stone column by stone column, and the cacti in their clay pots start to look almost smug about it.
We came for two nights and stayed for five. The plan, each day, was to go somewhere: Bellagio, the villa gardens, the castle on the hill. Most days we made it as far as the end of the loggia and the bench there.
How to do almost nothing well
Arrive before nine, when the lake is silver. Order one coffee too many. Watch the mountains turn from blue to green as the haze lifts, then decide there is no reason to hurry lunch.
The lake does the rest. It is a different colour every hour, and you will want to see all of them.